History Film / TheHoliday

* SelfDeprecation: Arthur calls himself an "old cocker" at one point.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Firmly on the side of idealism.

* GenreSavvy: Iris is having a conversation with Graham and Amanda on separate lines and quickly concludes that they've met and are having a relationship with only a few hints... then angrily yelling at her brother for having sex with the woman staying in her house! Unfortunately for her, she can't hit the button to switch the lines...

* BigShutUp: Amanda does one to Ethan after she first shuts the door on him. When she heads back upstairs, Ethan shouts at her through the door, invoking this trope from Amanda (through gritted teeth) as she runs up the stairs.

* ChekhovsGun: Jasper tells Iris he bought her a Christmas present at the start of the film, but doesn't have it with him at that moment. [[spoiler:He later unexpectedly turns up at Amanda's doorstep with said present in hand. Subverted in that though Jasper implies it's clothing, we don't find out what it is. His presence, however, and the use of said present, does lead to Iris kicking him out of her life shortly after.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: In the opening montage when we are with Amanda and Ethan in the Porsche, Iris's narration goes "For some, quite inexplicably, love fades." [[spoiler:This sets up Ethan cheating on Amanda with his receptionist and actually Amanda wanting to go on holiday, thus switching houses with Iris and setting much of the plot in motion. Miles also ends his relationship with Maggie after she cheats on him.]] The next bit goes, "For others, love is simply lost." [[spoiler:Graham is later revealed to be a widower.]] And then: "But then, of course, love can also be found." [[spoiler: Yes, it can, for all four main characters.]]
** Actually, the whole opening montage introduces us to all the film's main characters, and sets up locations such as Miles's home and the pub that will appear later, including Miles and Maggie, Amanda and Ethan, Arthur, Graham, and ending with Iris and Jasper.

* GenreSavvy: Iris is having a conversation with Graham and Amanda on separate lines and quickly concludes that they've met and are having a relationship with only a few hints... then angrily yelling at her brother for having sex with the woman staying in her house! [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Unfortunately for her, she can't hit the button to switch the lines...]]
* GetOut: Amanda does this to Ethan at the start of the film, punching him in the face twice to make it blatantly clear that it's over.
** [[spoiler:Near the end, Jasper turns up at Amanda's house unexpectedly. When Iris asks him if he is still engaged (he is), Iris gives this to him, literally pushing him out of the house and slamming the door in his face.]]

* InnerMonologue: Especially done with Amanda, whose brain turns her life into a movie trailer.

* ItsAllAboutMe: Amanda at the beginning. Ethan even tells her that he thinks she has a very high opinion of herself.
** Ethan himself has shades of this too.

* OhCrap: Amanda has two when she first drives Iris's Mini down a narrow country road and sees first a car, then a lorry, coming towards her.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When Amanda tells Ben and Bristol that she needs some weeks to herself, they treat it as a big deal because of how Amanda is MarriedToTheJob.

* PrecisionFStrike: Iris exclaims "Holy shit!" when she sees Amanda's house for the first time.
** See [[INeedAFreakingDrink I Need A Freaking Drink]] above, [[spoiler:spoken by Miles in the scene after he finds Maggie cheating on him, and when Iris sheds some light on her situation involving Jasper]].

* RuleOfThree: Iris has been pining after Jasper for three years.
** [[spoiler:There are also three instances of infidelity: Jasper cheating on Iris, Ethan cheating on Amanda, and finally Maggie cheating on Miles.]]
* SayMyName: [[spoiler:Miles does this when he sees Maggie on the arm of another man during the video store scene and runs outside to confront her.]]

* SecondLove: [[spoiler:Amanda, for Graham]]; Miles for Iris.

* UnableToCry: Amanda, mentioned by herself a number of times [[spoiler: That is, almost right up until the end of the film when she realizes she loves Graham, asks the driver to stop the car and rushes back to Iris's house to find him]].

* CrappyHolidays: Iris and Amanda agree to swap homes specifically to avoid this.

* HeroesGoneFishing: While trying to find something to do in Surrey before meeting Graham, Amanda plays "Mr Brightside" by The Killers and sings loudly to it while dancing and drinking a glass of wine.
** Miles attending the Hanukkah party at Amanda's house with Iris, Arthur and two of Arthur's friends, Norman and Ernie.
** Amanda and Graham spending the night in the pub, then having lunch the following day. Amanda then decides to go over to Graham's house that evening, [[spoiler:and this is where she meets Graham's daughters.]]
** The scene of Miles and Iris in the DVD store [[spoiler:before Miles sees Maggie on the arm of another man.]] At the end of the next scene, after realising they aren't that different, Miles decides to make Iris some fettuccine.
** The New Year's Eve party in the final scene.

* IntergenerationalFriendship: Iris and Arthur.
** Later, Miles and Arthur as well.

* AdamWesting: Hal Douglas, a prominent movie trailer narrator of the time, was cast to be the narrator of Amanda's life.

* TheCameo: Creator/DustinHoffman; see ThrowItIn on the Trivia page. Also, Creator/LindsayLohan and Creator/JamesFranco in the "Deception" trailer.

* AdamWesting: Creator/HalDouglas as the narrator of Amanda's life.

* HumbleHero: Arthur is a very accomplished screenwriter who's made some major contributions to classic film, even adding the famous line "here's looking at you, kid" to ''Film/Casablanca'', but is still very humble. Iris even notes that of the long list of classic films he gave her to check out, he wasn't involved in any.

* ArmorPiercingSlap: Amanda gives one to her cheating boyfriend after throwing him out.